News Scan

CADouble-Killer Sentenced to Death: The Associated Press reports Contra Costa County Judge John Kennedy sentenced convicted double-killer
Nathan Burris to death Friday. In August 2009, Burris used a shotgun to kill his ex-girlfriend and a friend who Burris thought was romantically involved with her. The murders occurred at the San Francisco Bay-area toll booth where his ex-girlfriend. Burris represented himself in court, repeatedly admitting his guilt during the trial. He also told the court that execution by lethal injection in California was meaningless due to all the legal obstacles. Continued from this post by Kent Scheidegger.

AZ Single-Drug Executions May Show CA the Way: Howard Mintz of Mercury News reports Arizona has earned itself the title of second busiest execution state after switching a to single drug execution protocol. The state currently has 128 death row inmates. In 2012, Arizona executed six inmates with the single drug protocol. In 2011, the state executed 11 inmates; the same amount California has executed since restoring the death penalty in 1978. No executions have been carried out in California over the past seven years. Between 2001 to 2010, only one Arizona murderer was executed as challenges to the state's three-drug lethal injection process dragged through the courts. Executions for the 14 California death row inmates who have exhausted all appeals, are currently delayed after years of similar challenges. The adoption of the single drug protocol mooted these challenges in Arizona, Washington, and Ohio. Once California does switch to the single drug method, the 9th Circuit's decisions allowing resumed executions in Arizona would apply. CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger said a resolution to the issue should not take too much longer.

So Far, No 2013 Homicides in Stockton: Andrea Menniti of CBS 13 reports that as last Friday, Stockton, CA had no murders during 2013. According to the Stockton Police Department, the city experienced three murders in the same time period last year. During the last six months of 2012, a community response team of 22 officers was implemented by the Stockton Police Department. The team had arrested about 300 felons and removed 168 guns off the streets. The city also got help from the California Highway Patrol in the last few months of 2012. Last year, Stockton set a record with 71 homicides, 21 of which occurred between October through December.